The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows
2021 studio album by Damon Albarn
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The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows is the second solo studio album by British musician Damon Albarn, best known as the frontman of Blur and Gorillaz.[1] It was released on 12 November 2021, by Transgressive Records. The album's title is derived from the poem "Love and Memory" by John Clare. It is Albarn's first solo album since 2014's Everyday Robots. It was originally planned as an orchestral piece inspired by the landscapes of Iceland, but Albarn expanded the project into a full-length album during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.[2]
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Released12 November 2021
Studios
- Studio 13 (London)
- Staðahverfi (Reykjavík)
- Studio 13 (Devon)
Length39:50
LabelTransgressive
| The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 12 November 2021 | |||
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| Length | 39:50 | |||
| Label | Transgressive | |||
| Producer | Damon Albarn | |||
| Damon Albarn solo chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows | ||||
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The album produced five singles: "The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows", "Polaris", "Particles", "Royal Morning Blue" and "The Tower of Montevideo".
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.5/10[3] |
| Metacritic | 80/100[4] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| The Daily Telegraph | [6] |
| Financial Times | [7] |
| The Guardian | [8] |
| The Independent | [9] |
| The Irish Times | [10] |
| NME | [11] |
| Pitchfork | 7.3/10[12] |
| The Times | [13] |
| Uncut | 8/10[14] |
The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows was met with favourable reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 80, based on 17 reviews.[4] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 7.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[3]
In his review for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis wrote, "for all its exhausted, preoccupied darkness, The Nearer the Fountain is a genuinely beautiful album."[8]
Year-end lists
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows" | 5:00 | |
| 2. | "The Cormorant" |
| 4:21 |
| 3. | "Royal Morning Blue" |
| 3:12 |
| 4. | "Combustion" |
| 2:53 |
| 5. | "Daft Wader" |
| 3:28 |
| 6. | "Darkness to Light" |
| 2:59 |
| 7. | "Esja" |
| 3:41 |
| 8. | "The Tower of Montevideo" |
| 4:19 |
| 9. | "Giraffe Trumpet Sea" | Albarn | 1:51 |
| 10. | "Polaris" |
| 4:45 |
| 11. | "Particles" | Albarn | 3:21 |
| Total length: | 39:50 | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 12. | "The Bollocked Man" | 23:27 |
| Total length: | 63:07 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Particles" (song ends at 3:21, followed by 0:30 of silence; includes a hidden track called "Huldufólk", which begins at 3:51 and has a length of 19:09.) | 23:00 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Bollocked Man" | 3:46 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows" (live at Union Chapel) | 3:51 |
| 2. | "The Cormorant" (live at Union Chapel) | 2:49 |
| 3. | "Royal Morning Blue" (live at Union Chapel) | 3:49 |
| 4. | "Daft Wader" (live at Union Chapel) | 2:54 |
| 5. | "Darkness to Light" (live at Union Chapel) | 2:20 |
| 6. | "The Tower of Montevideo" (live at Union Chapel) | 4:04 |
| 7. | "Polaris" (live at Union Chapel) | 3:58 |
| 8. | "Particles" (live at Union Chapel) | 3:19 |
| 9. | "Beetlebum" (live at Union Chapel) | 4:11 |
| 10. | "Under the Westway" (live at Union Chapel) | 4:15 |
| 11. | "Sweet Song" (live at Union Chapel) | 4:08 |
| 12. | "El Mañana" (live at Union Chapel) | 3:57 |
| 13. | "For Tomorrow" (live at Union Chapel) | 5:54 |
| 14. | "Tender" (live at Union Chapel) | 3:56 |
| 15. | "Girls & Boys" (live at Union Chapel) | 4:33 |
| 16. | "The Universal" (live at Union Chapel) | 3:45 |
| Total length: | 61:43 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows" (instrumentals) | 5:11 |
| 2. | "The Cormorant" (instrumentals) | 4:23 |
| 3. | "Royal Morning Blue" (instrumentals) | 3:16 |
| 4. | "Daft Wader" (instrumentals) | 3:29 |
| 5. | "Darkness to Light" (instrumentals) | 3:10 |
| 6. | "The Tower of Montevideo" (instrumentals) | 4:21 |
| 7. | "Polaris" (instrumentals) | 4:49 |
| 8. | "Particles" (instrumentals) | 3:20 |
| Total length: | 31:59 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Bollocked Man" (bonus track) | 3:46 |
| 2. | "Love & Memory (Recited by Damon Albarn)" (bonus track) | 3:44 |
| 3. | "Huldufólk" (bonus track) | 19:10 |
| Total length: | 26:40 | |
Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[19]
Musicians
- Damon Albarn – acoustic guitar (1, 6), Elka Space Organ (1, 3–6, 8–11), piano (2–6, 8–11), Wurlitzer (2, 9–11), bass guitar (2, 4), Hammond S100 (3, 5, 9–11), monochord (3), drums (4, 6), Farfisa organ (4), harmonium (6, 9), bells (8), slate marimba (9), Rhodes Chroma (9–11), iPad strings (9)
- Simon Tong – acoustic guitar (1, 5), electric guitar (1–8, 10), drums (9)
- Josephine Stephenson – cello (1, 4, 7, 8), vocals (1)[citation needed]
- Romain Bly – French horn (1, 2, 4, 7), slate marimba (1, 7)
- Rakel Björn Helgadóttir – French horn (1, 2, 4, 7)
- André de Ridder – violin (1–4, 7)
- Alexina Hawkins – viola (1, 2, 4, 7)
- Sigrún Jónsdóttir – trombone (1, 2, 4, 7, 8)
- Sigrún Kristbjörg Jónsdóttir – trombone (1, 2, 4, 7, 8)
- Árni Benediktsson – field recordings: "Ocean at Hellnar" (1, 7, 8), "Wind Outside House" (8), "Birds Close to the Beach" (10), "Under the Waterfall" (11)
- Mike Smith – Elka Space Organ (3–6, 9), harmonium (4, 5), saxophone (4, 6, 8, 10), Farfisa (6)
- Samuel Egglenton – drum programming (3), bass guitar (4)
- Caimin Gilmore – double bass (3)
- Laura Nygren – double bass (3, 4)
- Carol Jarvis – bass trombone (4, 8)
- Shelley Sörensen – viola (4)
- Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir – French horn (8)
- Einar Örn Benediktsson – "a Snapchat" (10)
Technical
- Damon Albarn – production
- Samuel Egglenton – engineering, additional production
- Stephen Sedgwick – mixing
- John Davis – mastering
Art
- OK-RM – design, art direction
- Márton Perlaki – photography
Charts
| Chart (2021) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[20] | 37 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[21] | 13 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[22] | 8 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[23] | 48 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[24] | 15 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25] | 35 |
| Irish Albums (Official Charts)[26] | 24 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[27] | 32 |
| Scottish Albums (Official Charts)[28] | 5 |
| Spanish Albums (Promusicae)[29] | 61 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] | 20 |
| UK Albums (Official Charts)[31] | 7 |
| UK Independent Albums (Official Charts)[32] | 1 |